Things in tv shows that bothered you.

[Frybird]

A few months ago i tried to get into "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", a mostly forgotten Aaron Sorkin Show about the background events of a "Saturday Night Live"-Style Comedy Show and how some former writers/producers are re-hired. Those are the protagonists who then try to make the shows humor less shallow and stale and make it smarter.

Which is all fine and interesting, but: Sorkin can't write comedy sketches. The show clearly has sketches that are supposed to be bad and others that are supposed to be genius, and to me at least, both are atrociously bad. That would be something that you can ignore (after all, it's not about the actual sketches but rather the conception and the conflicts behind the scenes)...but Sorkin being Sorkin, he really likes to talk down to people, wich appears in spades both in the "genius" sketches as well as the actual story, where the main characters end up bitching about how others are too stupid or too opinionated to enjoy thier "brilliant" gags.

It made the show basically unwatchable for me.

(That said, i might not be a fan of Sorkin anyway. I really liked his writing in "The Social Network", but it really tired me out in "The Newsroom" [combined with it's 'holier than thou' attitude that was grating even when i mostly was inclined to agree with it, as well as the constant 'cheating' with using past events to make the newsteam look impossibly good...also it's either sexist or Sorkin just cannot write female characters]. As witty and clever his dialogues may be, there comes a time when you just cannot overlook the fact that people just do not talk that way.)

 

[Altorin]

the whole religious/prophecy subplot/angle in Battlestar Galactica was probably the most painful thing I'd ever seen. I know what it means basically (at least I think I do) - that the events leading up to the destruction of the 12 colonies was unavoidable, and that history repeats itself again and again, leading to myth that seems very familiar to their modern times... but every time the series took a turn towards the super-natural, I cringed. I couldn't stand it.

On the other hand, I *loved* the cylons. Once I gathered what their deal was (the series takes about 2.5 seasons before it really capitalizes on them and reveals their side of things/way of thinking), I found I could predict them because they were written in a very.. consistent way. Model Number 1 describes in passing about how during a battle, he was injured, and casually found a piece of jagged metal to cut his own throat with so that he would ressurect in their ressurection pods. That was a very profound moment. The Cylons really were machines, they thought like machines, they acted in ways like machines, and were COMPLETELY not expecting individual personalities to arise out of individual units through their interactions with the humans, but they did, and seeing how that effected their society was so interesting to me.

And then along the line somewhere, the president would have a lucid dream about some prophetic thing and I would fall asleep completely. One show contained both the most compelling bit of... society writing? Like character building but on a grand scale?.. I'd ever seen, and also the LEAST compelling bits of writing I'd ever seen.

The only thing more underwhelming in terms of writing was the wet fart that was the Lost Series Finale. Even after you understand it (and I don't think anyone "got it" the first time they saw it), it still leaves you feeling completely empty.

So... The Series Finale of Lost.

 

[octafish]

Well, its a small thing, but in the seventh season (and earlier seasons) of The West Wing they kept mentioning Oregon and Washington as swing states that the Republicans could win. Both states are solidly democratic states, and would almost certainly go for the Democratic candidate in any modern era campaign.

Also, anytime anyone mispronounces Oregon. I live right on the border of Washington and Oregon, so I kind of consider myself to be from both states, and it annoys me when I hear people mispronounce it as Or-E-gone.

But Vinick was a moderate Republican and put states in play that had previously been solidly Democratic. Remember, at one point in the campaign there was a belief that he could possibly win all 50 states.

Ahh Wing Nuts, I love you guys...

On topic the cast, writing, and whole scenario of Navy Cops AKA NCIS.

 

[DanielBrown]

Plenty of minor things. A recent example would be all the hugging in Sons of Anarchy. I've only watched the first four seasons that's on Netflix, but holy shit do they hug each other a lot. These guys are supposed to be biker criminals, the toughest motherfuckers around, however every time they meet, something happens or they're splitting up they have to hug.

On the other hand it would make an excellent drinking game.


Another serie that really bothers me at the moment is Mad Men. Pretty much every guy is a cheating asshole. I'm halfway through season two now I believe and so far there's only been one character I've liked. He was only in one episode however(don't want to spoil anything).

Could write an entire essay on what bothered me in Lost, but I can settle with all the knock outs people get by guns. That shit is really dangerous and considering that they're usually out cold for five minutes-half a day their brains should be a big mess... Which might actually explain all the weird, unexplained shit.

 

[spacemutant IV]

^ I have to second the whole religious aspect of BSG. That stuff got so bad towards the end, I couldn't bring myself to finish the show, and I probably never will, even though some of the episodes and storylines were the very best I have ever seen on TV. In addition to the things mentioned above, there were the old legends that got constantly referred to throughout the show, and they were trying to imitate old-timey erthly speak, which didn't make any sense at all. Those old texts were written by space-age humans whose technology was far superior to our own; such people are not going to refer to a pulsar as a "blinking eye", they are just going to call it a pulsar.

 

[Realitycrash]

I have one for Stargate Atlantis. In all of SG1 and most of Atlantis the writers made sure that earth never got advanced weapons for their ships as it would make space fights too easy. The last episode of SG1 changed that when they got these beam weapons that could kill the most powerfull bad guys they had ever met in 6 shots.

But Atlantis went on for another season after SG1. All of the Earth ships were upgraded with these weapons and they even use them is some of the engagements but here is my problem. Now they have the weapons they can beat the wraith at every time. There ships are faster, have shields (wraith don't) and the new weapons can destory wraith ships very quickly. Why are they not taking the fight to the wraith? I know earth is limited to only 4 ships but the wraith are already fighting each other. Why not use hit and run tactics? Jump in, fire of a few dozen shot taking out a ship then jump back again. Slowly take them out one at a time?

They never seem to act only react.

That scenario is explored in an off-shot timeline in the Show (When Sheppard gets transported into a Bad Future). Basically, Samantha uses that tactic with great success until Michael lures her into a trap and annihilates her ships. The Wraith can afford to lose a multitude of ships, Earth can't. That's how they beat the Ancients too.

 

[Sonic_Boom]

Romance in shows which really don't need it.

I'M LOOKING AT YOU DOCTOR WHO.

 

[Gizmo1990]

snip

I remember that episode but by season 5 there are some key differences.

1. Sheperd knows what happened. He would be involved in any plans they made and they could take steps to avoid something like that happening.

2. The Ori are gone so they could have at least two ships at the same time taking on the wraith.

3. In the other timeline by the time Sam was attacking Michael the wraith were basicly gone it was just one ship Vs Michael's entire army, in the real timeline the wraith are still very much at war with each other, how are they to know when a hive ship is destroyed by Earth and when it has been destroyed by a rival wraith faction?

 

[Scarim Coral]

To me that would be the Walking Dead as in it appear the zombies in that shows are more like ninja zombies! How the hell can you not hear any moaning or grunt etc until it appear right in your face??

 

[krazykidd]

Okay, so I decided to re-watch Scrubs. But something happens in season 4 that really bothers me. Turk and Carla want to kick J.D. out of their apartment, even though HE was the one who got the apartment for him and Turk. It was HE who asked Turk to move in with him. I just thought that was super selfish and to make it worse after he decided to move they wouldn't even let him stay until he found his own place had to sleep in a tent. I thought they were friends.

If anyone could try to explain why they would do that, please try explaining it to me.

Also, anybody have any experiences like this with a tv show? Where something really bothered you?

It's scrubs , is not suppose to make sense , it's suppose to be funny .

OT: Forgive me for bringing this back , but Lost . Absolutely nothing about that show, past the first few episodes made any sense .

 

[Milanezi]

Sons of Anarchy, it's got to a point where I'm stuck 2 season before what's being aired simply because... GOD. I know they're fictional, but it seems the producer (director? - the same dude that plays Otto) did a lot of research on MCs and keeps himself open to true MC input... I really can't imagine a Hells Angels or something being so irresponsible or "calm" (at the wrong moments) as the characters in the show, I'm talking about (season 1-3/4 event)

Spoiler

Oppie is totally in love with his wife, he dropped the club to be with her and only returned because he needed the money; I'm a-ok with a ll that. Due to misfortune Clay gets her killed, instead of the right target, Oppie himself, to make matters worse they find out Oppie wasn't a snitch after all. I totally understand Oppie murdering that ATF agent as an act of revenge, but I really can't swallow that he'd stop there, he would AT LEAST go after Clay as well, probably after the hitman himself -can't remember his name.

A lot of things in Friends got me pissed along the way, fortunately I still love that show so much so I just overlooked them lol

Breaking Bad: Skyler. Skyler is wrong period. She's such a bastard that even when she's right, she's wrong lol

Walking Dead: Lori and Andrea, Rick as well

Spoiler

shortly after Lori dies he becomes a jerk, he's back to being ok in this season it seems lol

American Horror Story - Asylum: the lesbian character, I'm bias because I hate the actress herself, but there was a given moment when she was simply a major *****.

Hell on Wheels: when Common's character gets all uptight near the middle of the Season 2 or something.

 

[Tactical Pause]

As somebody who has recently finished watching season 4 of Angel (thank god that's over), something that has really gone from being a pet peeve to being a much bigger issue for me is the idea that almost every member of the main cast must be in relationship with and/or attracted to another main character of the opposite sex. The perfect example is the aforementioned season 4 of Angel, in which there are six main characters, and every single one of them has romantic feelings for another main character (including two love triangles; what the hell?). I mean, I understand that it's easier to just do that than it is to attach main characters to people who are off-screen a good bit of the time, but all of them? Really?

However, on the subject of Buffy/Angel and back on topic, one thing always bothered the hell out of me. I thought the whole concept of 'soul', central to the whole show's premise, was completely inconsistently handled. As long as all demons were essentially monsters, as in the first few series, it was fine. But then in several episodes, and especially in Angel, we discovered demons who were perfectly conscious, moral beings - sometimes even sympathetic. At that stage the whole morality of the show was screwed because it made no sense why Buffy was allowed to kill any demon because 'it didn't have a soul', but no human, no matter how evil. There was just no sense of what a soul was or why on earth it should matter.

Oh my god, yes. This has been bugging me ever since peaceful demons began to appear.

 

[2HF]

Any time a character appears on a laptop or tablet screen and looks around their own fucking location as if that will let them see what's happening in the room they're being displayed to. The Big Bang Theory is more guilty of this than anyone but every time I see it anywhere I find it infuriating. That's not how cameras work you stupid fucking fucks.

 

[Flatfrog]

As somebody who has recently finished watching season 4 of Angel (thank god that's over)

Angel drove me crazy because it was *mostly* terrible and yet kept coming up with just enough moments of genius to keep me watching. Conversely, sometimes it would just start getting brilliant and then they would lose faith in themselves and undermine it. Most of Season 4 was terrible, but then Jasmine turned up and that section was pretty good. Stick with it for Season 5, which actually has some great stuff in it, and thank God hasn't got fucking Cordelia any more.

The absolute nadir was the Pylea episodes. What in God's name were they thinking? And sticking with the topic, that's another example of how they messed up one of the key premises of the series. Here was Pylea - a supposed 'Hell dimension' populated entirely by demons - but it turned out to be just a sub-Xena fantasy setting. So once again we're left wondering exactly what 'Hell' is supposed to mean in this mythology, and where good and evil (and souls) fit in with any of it.

Oh - and while I'm at it, the other thing that really bothered me about Angel was that LA was so full of demons. Because that basically implies that Buffy is completely useless. Remember that in Buffy we've established that the reason she came to Sunnydale was that it was on the Hellmouth which made it a beacon for all the demons and other nasties. And we even discovered that in an alternative universe where she didn't go there, all manner of disasters ensued. But now in Angel we discover that LA has just as much of an evil underbelly, and that implies that demons are *everywhere*. So what's so special about Sunnydale and why doesn't Buffy have to leave there from time to time?

 

[Deathlyphil]

I have one for Stargate Atlantis. In all of SG1 and most of Atlantis the writers made sure that earth never got advanced weapons for their ships as it would make space fights too easy. The last episode of SG1 changed that when they got these beam weapons that could kill the most powerful bad guys they had ever met in 6 shots.

But Atlantis went on for another season after SG1. All of the Earth ships were upgraded with these weapons and they even use them is some of the engagements but here is my problem. Now they have the weapons they can beat the wraith at every time. There ships are faster, have shields (wraith don't) and the new weapons can destory wraith ships very quickly. Why are they not taking the fight to the wraith? I know earth is limited to only 4 ships but the wraith are already fighting each other. Why not use hit and run tactics? Jump in, fire of a few dozen shot taking out a ship then jump back again. Slowly take them out one at a time?

They never seem to act only react.

I haven't watched SG-1 or Atlantis for a while so this may be wrong. The Ori threat continued after series 10 and was wrapped up in the first movie. There's a good chance that during Atlantis series 5 all the ships were needed to defend Earth. Plus it took weeks or months for the ships to travel to the Pegasus galaxy and the same again back. That's a long time for them all to be away for. Four ships against a huge fleet aren't good odds either...

Strangely enough though, I've just started watching Atlantis again. It's a pity the cute redhead girl they capture in series one never makes another appearance.

 

[Legion]

The Walking Dead and the characters inconsistency when it comes to weapon skills. When fighting zombies they are not only capable of getting head shots 9 shots out of 10, they can do so during movement and terrain that isn't flat. But whenever fighting other humans they apparently forget how to do it and somehow proceed to miss 9 out of 10 shots instead.

This is even more ridiculous when the enemies they are fighting are completely surrounded and out in the open.

 

[Random Argument Man]

The Walking Dead and the characters inconsistency when it comes to weapon skills. When fighting zombies they are not only capable of getting head shots 9 shots out of 10, they can do so during movement and terrain that isn't flat. But whenever fighting other humans they apparently forget how to do it and somehow proceed to miss 9 out of 10 shots instead.

This is even more ridiculous when the enemies they are fighting are completely surrounded and out in the open.

I was just about to mention that!

While we're at it, let's mention the finale of season 3. During the whole season, it was gigantic build-up to Rick and Co. vs the Governor. I was expecting a big war between the two. We got that...in a little dose. I was expecting a lot major deaths during the battle since everyone were having some last moment scenes. Nope, no one important died during the battle. A few characters died here and there. There was only one big death and we were kinda expecting it.

It would not have bothered me if the Walking Dead hasn't set itself as a show where any type of character can die at any moment. I fear the creators aren't willing to sacrifice a popular character anymore and are starting to play it safe...which can lead to the show becoming stale.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Breaking Bad with the existence of Skylar. I honestly don't understand how people can even remotely like her. She's nothing but a **** for the sake of being a ****.

I'm only about part way through season 4 and so far, I have to agree somewhat.

Spoiler

I can understand being pissed off at Walt seeing as how he told so many lies to her. But I felt that she went a bit too far when she slept with Ted. It also proves that she's a hypocrite as well, as Ted was also doing some shady things to keep his business afloat.

Hardly shady compared to what Walt was doing. Also,

Spoiler

why wouldn't she sleep with Ted. It was the only way besides telling the DEA that she could think of to hurt Walt. She wanted this potentially dangerous (she doesn't even know the half of it) criminal out of her house and away from her children. If I was married and found out that my spouse was involved in this shit too, I would probably turn them in but if not, I would do anything I could think of to get them away from my kids. Drug dealing is a dangerous business and is probably going to make a person some enemies. You don't want those enemies knocking on your family's door.

So while agree that she is definitely unforgiving and at times quite mean to Walt. You should notice that in flash backs and the beginning of the series, she was clearly a very loving wife who thought of her husband as a great man. He shattered that. Not her. I'm not saying that Walt is pure evil (I was still partially rooting for him even at his worst moments), but any anger or unreasonableness that Skyler has towards him is completely justified IMO.

Edit: I guess I should actually give my input towards the topic.

The finale of the previous season of The Walking Dead really pissed me off in more ways than one.

First:

Spoiler

they tried to give Andrea an emotional goodbye when not only was she probably the most hated character (for all the wrong reasons), her death was due to her and the writers' own stupidity. If she had just immediately started trying to escape, she would have! Instead, there were a ton of pausing and staring at Milton for some kind of stupid dramatic effect.

Second:

Spoiler

A few of the main characters using a bit of shitty cover and some guard armor fight off the Governor's small army complete with armored vehicles and some really big guns?! I'll suspend my disbelief for some small things but really? Realistically he would have easily killed them all and successfully taken over the prison.

Third:

Spoiler

The Governor, in a fit of raging stupidity, solves everyone's problem by gunning down his own people because they didn't want to get shot at anymore and then runs off with a few of his most loyal retards. It was on the verge of being a deus ex machina ending where instead of some king showing up to resolve everything, the Governor resolves it himself by having a random bout of stupidity that was fairly out of character. I understand that he was definitely mentally unstable but this was just ridiculous.

Basically, season three may have ruined the show for me. For me, it was easily the worst episode of the series and I'm not sure if I'll bother watching anymore of it.

 

[Robot Number V]

Breaking Bad with the existence of Skylar. I honestly don't understand how people can even remotely like her. She's nothing but a **** for the sake of being a ****.

I'm only about part way through season 4 and so far, I have to agree somewhat.

Spoiler

I can understand being pissed off at Walt seeing as how he told so many lies to her. But I felt that she went a bit too far when she slept with Ted. It also proves that she's a hypocrite as well, as Ted was also doing some shady things to keep his business afloat.

*sigh*

Walt murdered people. Walt murdered people. Walt. MURDERED. People. WALT. FUCKING. MURDERED. PEOPLE.

And you think....

Spoiler: Breaking Bad spoilers

Skyler went TOO FAR by sleeping with Ted?! What the hell kind of logic is THAT supposed to be??!!

I find hate for Skyler to be fucking mind-boggling. Making meth and killing people? Understandable! Extra-marital affair? Kill that *****!

I just...What....HOW?

And don't tell me "He was doing it for his family, so it's OK!" Don't kid yourself. The show goes out of it's way to prove how dumb that argument is, when Walt Jr. starts getting money with his web site, or when some rich friends fucking OFFER HIM MONEY. Right away the show demonstrates that Walt is doing it because of his own stupid pride, NOT for his family. If Walt was REALLY selfless, he would've just swallowed his pride and taken the damn money from Elliot.

And before you say "She just did it to be a *****, at least Walt had a reason!"

1. Making meth for money is STILL much worse then cheating for no reason.

2. She did it so Walt would understand how she felt when she learned his secrets. She essentially did it for revenge, which I think is totally fucking justified. I'll admit it was petty, but nowhere NEAR as petty as Walt.

Supporting him but not her isn't just hypocritical, it's backwards to the point of being damn near psychotic.

Anway, my answer would be the love triangle/quadrangle in Lost. Kate was only interesting when she was morally grey and you didn't really know whether or not you could trust her. As soon as she became the "romantic interest" she essentially became a piece of cardboard with tits. Same goes for Juliet. That bit in the season 5 finale when her motivation kept jumping back and forth because she was sad about her hitherto un-mentioned parents divorce was fucking atrocious. (Nobody talk to me about spoilers. You've had YEARS.)